Malawi: Power Cuts Return As Escom Announces Load Shedding

By Osman Faiti

Power utility Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (Escom) has announced that it will implement a countrywide load shedding programme due to inadequate power supply from electricity Generation Company (Egenco).

Escom in a statement issued by its public relations manager Innocent Chitosi said the load shedding programme is "temporary" but could not indicate how long normal supply will resume.

The power utility said the power grid is being constrained as Egenco has shutdown Nkula B Hydro Station following a burst pipe on a machine at the station.

This, according to Escom, has been done to prevent flooding at the station and further damage to the machines.

The statement further states that the shutdown of Nkula B Hydro Station will lead to a loss of 100 megawatts (MW), leaving Escom with 275 MW against a forecast demand of 310MW.

Egenco on the other hand issues a statement through its senior public relations officer Moses Gwaza, which said investigations to establish the cause of the burst pipe and words to repair the bypass pipe are underway.

Gwaza said the company is "tirelessly" working to resolve the problem.

He said Egenco is currently running all diesel-powered generators to minimise the impact of the Nkula B shutdown.

This article originally appeared on Nyasa Times

Photo: Escom